What about us
by Sugar.Puffle
Summary: Few months after Robbo's Court Case, what's changed? What hasn't?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Summer Bay was now more then ever a changed place. Robbo put away behind bars, after found guilty on charges of raping Joey. Hugo had admitted his feelings for Martha, which of course Brendan knew all along he had. They were now in a relationship, taking it one step at a time but clearly happy. Roman seemed more relaxed and now expressed more consideration for others. He had forgiven Aden and Nicole; though still found it frustrating without his sight. Angelo had very much grown part of the scenery, but still not easily accepted by the residents. Colleen on the other hand, had remained her usual self, distributing the gossip to the ears that would listen, and bobbing about the diner. But this projected and a real sense of normality, whatever that was.

Charlie scanned the diner, she had been sitting at her table for over half an hour, clearly disconnected to anything or anyone. She let out a heavy sigh.

"Ah Charlie how are ya love, what can I get ya?" Irene came over.

"uh no thanks! I'm good, I was just leaving." Charlie tried to smile as she walked out, wanting to avoid conversation. Irene didn't quite know what to make of this, but soon found herself occupied with Colleen who was hassling a reporter about an article.

Charlie had legged it out, now suddenly feeling sick from the lunch, she pounced on the nearest bin and threw up and let out a whimper. A hand offered a tissue, she grabbed it to wipe her mouth, then looked up. Joey. She took a double take, suddenly aware she must have looked a state she readjusted focus to the ground. "How are you?" she managed to say. "I'm good. Positive now the trial is over, it's only forward from here on out." Charlie forced herself to look up at her. "You on the other hand clearly don't look great!"

"Ya I know."

"So are you going to spill or will I have to pound it out of you?"

"huh!" Charlie stood back a little uneasy.

"I haven't seen you for ages, you've been darting around like a blue assed-fly! When I came back and survived the torturous course case I thought we'd be moving forward together, even if it means us just being friends. Are we on the same page here?" Joey eyed Charlie waiting for a response. She realised her tone had been a little harsh, and Charlie was now producing rather numerous tears down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to say it quite like that." She moved forward, as did Charlie. Both opened their arms and embraced each other. "Ya we're on the same page." Charlie managed to whisper among the escaping tears. "Come on, lets go home ya?" she nodded and followed just a little behind, clinging on to her arm.

Leah had been cooking, aromas seeped from the kitchen door, alluring them in. "Something smells wonderful!" Joey said enthusiastically. Leah turned around with an awkward grin. "Aw I'm sorry, I forgot to ask you. Roman's popping over this evening for dinner, VJ's got a sleep over, so I was kind of hoping that you could both…." She trailed off. Charlie and Joey grinned and rolled their eyes. "Ya of course" they said. "I promise we won't be too late, Ruby coming back later anyway from Xavier's. Thanks your awesome!" Joey noticed a hop, skip and jump in Leah's walk around the kitchen, it was great to see her this happy again.

Charlie plonked herself on the sand and brought her legs up to her chest. Joey copied but instead crossed her legs. Both sat in silence for a few minutes. They hadn't actually had enough time to themselves to fill the many holes they both still had in their hearts. After the court case, things became a blur. Leah had automatically assumed Joey would be moving back, which didn't give them both a chance to talk openly before hand. Both had been consumed with daily duties, one day soon rolled off to another. And now here they were.

"As a friend I am here for you Charlie, you can tell me anything. I love you and care about you, naturally I worry." She turned to her.

"I know." She replied. "I just…I'm in a mess too big to handle right now."

"well talk to me, let me be there for you."

"We never even…" she trailed off, trying so desperately hard to hold back tears. Her eyes were still saw from earlier. "We never got to talk properly after everything and I feel that we're so disconnected from each other already, I can't dump my problems on you." Joey stared at her as she said this, and contemplated. Then stared at the ground.

"I'm sorry." Was all she could say. Charlie took a deep breath and projected the words she was so sorry she knew she had to say "I'm pregnant." Joey, wide eyed looked at her up and down " you mean….you're…..… a bun in the oven?" a sudden realisation painted her face. Hugo. Joey put a hand up to her mouth, then rubbed her eyes. "Oh Jesus! Hmmm" she sat back. Just when she thought everything was moving forward. She had now, somehow been transported back to when her life was pig shit. A few minutes passed. "Please say something." Charlie had remained staring at the ground, feeling as ashamed as that night she had betrayed Joey. "What can I say Charlie?" She stood up. Charlie at this point burst into tears. Joey was going to walk away from her for good. Joey supported her head, while she tried to wrack her brains for the right words. "Charlie I love you! It's been months since the court case and I'm still here. Ok we haven't had as many conversations as we have both liked. We've both been physically and mentally drained, we've both been healing. If this…" she waved her hand "is how it's meant to be then I accept that. I've forgiven you for your mistakes, but I'm not the kind of person that's going to forever hold this against you. I thought you knew that." Charlie bounced up. "Do you really….really mean that?" She eyes searched for an immediate response. Joey walked forward. "Yes I do, ok I freely admit I'm not thrilled about it, but I have to believe that everything happens for a reason." " I thought you were going to leave for good." Charlie swung her arms around Joey, holding tightly. "I love you so much." She said as she stroked her neck with her thumb. They pulled apart and stared into each others eyes. Joey let out a sound of surprise. "I thought….I thought you didn't have feelings for me anymore." "What?" "Well ya I thought you just wanted to be friends, I mean we haven't had this much physical bonding for ages." Charlie wanted so much to kiss her, to taste her, but she resisted afraid of moving too fast. She let go of her and moved away. Joey swung her back into her arms. Charlie didn't know what to make of this. "this really does complicate this to timbuck-too ya know." "I know." She looked at the ground, hanging her head low. Joey reached for her face, and brought her closer. Charlie trembled, was she really go to kiss her? After everything. Had she told her she was pregnant or had it been a dream? How could this possible be real? Their faced were barely touching, but both grew impatient with desire. Charlie made the move and sealed the kiss, unable to take anymore of the wait. Joey responded moving her hand to her neck to bring her even closer to feel each other deep inside their mouths. Tired of the wait, the mistakes, the worries, and the new found hurdles. They still loved each other, it had to be enough.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Joey was sitting on the sofa, where she had been most of the night, resting her head on one of the arms. She felt a warm buzz through her, knowing that Charlie still wanted what she wanted. But thoughts of the actual situation they were in, kept invading. A baby! Was she prepared to deal with all of this so suddenly? They had only just admitted their undying love for each other. She sat up and switched the TV off that she had kept on almost all night very low.

Getting up and walking into the kitchen, she found the remains of Roman and Leah's dinner. The dishes hadn't been touched, that was not like Leah at all. Joey smiled to herself perhaps dinner for them had gone better then planned. Maybe, she thought, things could turn out better for her and Charlie. She grabbed a glass for drink. Behind her she heard quiet foot-steps advancing. "Hey what you doing up?" She turned around to see Charlie pulling out one of the yellow chairs from under the table. "Couldn't sleep I guess." "Yeah me neither." She crossed her arms and leant on the table. Joey sat next to her, and offered out her hand. Charlie couldn't resist a smile.

"I was just wondering, um how far are you now?" Charlie's smile faded. "about 5 months." Joey spat out the water almost horizontally. Charlie had managed to pull back, to avoid the full force of the flying water. "Oh my god! 5 months……….really?" She worked it out in her head. Well yes that would be right, it was 3 months until the Court Case, and it was now nearly 2 and a half months after that. She jumped up to clear up the mess. " I don't understand though" she sprun around "aren't you suppose to be getting…..you know…big now and your still throwing up?" "Oh no that's not morningsickness, no I'm done with that. I um…had a salad at lunch, I think there must have been bacon in it. For some godly reason Bacon just sets me off, weird I know." "Ya I'll say." Joey sat back, again trying to gain control of her thoughts. "What about your tummy" she pointed. Charlie sighed. "I've talked to Rachel about it, she said that when your pregnant your body just adjusts differently. Maybe because I was fit and extremely healthy, I show less of a bump. I dunno…" she trailed off. She could see Joeys mind on fire, doubts simmering. "You're freaking out….arn't you?" "Have you told Hugo?" Charlie hadn't prepared herself for this. She gulped "No, he doesn't need to know. He's with Martha and she's a friend. Like you said things are complicated enough." Joey couldn't agree more. "What are you….we…going to tell people? their going to notice eventually. Do Leah and Ruby even know? I've never heard you guys talking about it." Charlie didn't know. She put head on the table. Joey moved closer and stroked her hair. "I assume you're going to keep the baby, are you?" "I don't know, I don't know what I'm going to do, I can't hide it much longer, Ruby's going to have a spas attack, and if Martha ever found out…" she burst into tears, her whole body seemed to shake from the quiet sobs she released. "Hey why don't we go back to bed? You need some rest, otherwise you'll feel even worse in the morning." Joey was right.

They left the kitchen, turned off the light and headed towards the bedrooms. Joey stopped at the door, and grabbed Charlie's hand. "You could come in if you wanted" she indicated with her hand. They hadn't slept together since Joey moved back. Things had been ever so awkward. This was the first real indication that Joey really meant what she said about staying. "Are you sure?" Charlie asked nervously. Joey opened the door, and gently pulled Charlie in. After closing the door behind, Joey came up to her and placed a kiss on her cheek "I'm here to stay…..ok" she searched for eye contact. Charlie managed to bring her eyes up and stare in hers. "I love you." Charlie wiped her eyes "I love you too."

They both felt a degree of comfort, finally lying together. They suddenly felt closer mentally, as well as physically. Joey brought herself closer to Charlie to enclose the gap that existed between them. Supporting herself with her arm, she kissed Charlie's forehead. "You can't resist, can you?" Charlie said with a smile. Joey buried her head into the pillow, rather shy. Charlie leant over her and whispered into her ear "I want you, all of you, forever." Joey looked up. Neither of them could see past the mess they were in, all they could see right now was each other. Being this close, after all this time was torture, they both wanted more of each other. But Joey hesitated. "The baby." Charlie smiled, for the first time with mention of the baby. "Yeah the baby!" she said. She reached for Joey's other hand and placed it on her tummy under her nightgown. Joey flinched, she could feel her, she could feel the bump. It seemed bigger now she could feel it. She eyes widened. Charlie was amused with her reaction, and let out a small giggle. Joey re-positioned herself to get comfy. She placed a hand on Charlie's waist and stroked her soft skin. Charlie closed her eyes trying to capture everything. She was buzzing inside, both were. Joey leant in and showered her with kissed along her neck up to her ear. She nibbled it, giving Charlie goose-bumps. "Just kiss me properly already!" Charlie demanded. Joey obeyed and let their lips came together. Dancing, in the dark their kiss grew more passionate, both unable to feel any other emotion then this desire of wanting. Their breathing quickened, as their hands moved up and down, and into all the placed they had once known. Charlie lifted her arms, Joey smiled.

They had removed every item of clothing and lay on their sides. Joey was particular not to put Charlie in any discomfort. She stroked her face, and found her lips as she had before. Both let out quiet moans of the touch they had longed for, for so long.

Charlie put one arm around Joey's neck to bring her in, further. She wanted to feel every bit of her. Joey moved her hand down to Charlie's breast, and started caressing. She studied with her touch even further and came to her thigh. She stroked the inside. Charlie was lost in Joey, as was Joey in her. Charlie had found her hands at the same place on Joey, their breathing uncontrollable. Both brought their bodies tightly wrapped, to meet this intoxicating touch. Joey moved her hand to feel her, more of her, as did Charlie. She ventured in her, deep within her, causing Joey to moan even more. Both started moving together, constantly desiring more. Charlie buried her head in Joey's neck, moving fast. A tear escaped. No tears for sorrow, but only of love. They were together, making each other feel complete. For now, nothing else mattered.

They were lulled by each others tastes, movements, and heavy breathing. Both unable to stop, felt sensations cruise their bodies, driving them further, harder until they eventually climaxed. They didn't let go of each other, or feel ashamed of their desired love. They brought their arms up, around one another, and fell asleep wondering how they were going to hide their massive, goofy looking grin in the morning. Hopefully it would make everything else manageable to deal with.


	3. Chapter 3

Questions

Joey had been up, at the first sight of light. She had gotten out bed, to avoid waking Charlie. By the time Charlie strolled out, Leah and Ruby were sitting at the kitchen table eying Joey. "My lips are sealed! I'm not saying anything." She tried to sound persuasive but failed. They spun round to Charlie to see if she would give any insight. She already knew what the question was. "Come on…..out with it….your…together, as in together, together!" Ruby said with a surge of hope and excitement. All eyes were on Charlie. Joey was curious to see her reaction. She tried to keep her smile discrete as she walked over to the fridge. "Charlie there's no denying it. I know you slept together!.......I heard you!" Joey couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, deep down rather embarrassed. "Well!" Ruby stampered. "Oh I'm…not denying it at all." Charlie replied with a smile. Ruby bounced to her feet, and embraced her sister. Things were finally back to the way they were. She thought. Leah couldn't help but notice the rather distinct look Charlie gave Joey. "Wow!" Ruby said with her hands on her mouth. Joey offered her a seat in case she felt a little faint.

VJ walked in scratching his head. "Well good morning young man! Late night ay?" Leah teased. "What do you want for breakie?" He paused to think, and stared at Charlie and Joey for a minute, watching them smiling at each other. Leah caught his gaze. "Mum why is Charlie fat?" Everyone suddenly had their eyes fixed on her stomach, causing Charlie to go bright red. "VJ apologies to Charlie that's out of order!" Leah demanded. Ruby walked round the table to get a better look. Charlie bolted and headed for the door, this was getting too much. "Charlie!" Ruby yelled. "Are you…." She trailed off. She couldn't possibly, she would have told her! She told her everything. Didn't she? Joey wanted to say something to ease it all, but she couldn't find words that wouldn't turn into a lie. She left soon after Charlie, leaving Leah and Ruby puzzled and brimmed with questions, while VJ had a smile plastered on his face eating his favourite pan cakes.

It was suddenly all too familiar. The feeling of being unable to enjoy what she and Joey had had together. She paced to the diner, plan of attack, coffee. Aden was near the front door, swinging Belle in and out of his arms. They were laughing over something, apparently hilarious. Aden spotted Charlie heading towards them, and parted from Belle, kissing her goodbye. "Hey how are things?" Charlie knew she didn't have the happiest face on her today, but she didn't feel like pretending. "Crap!" she replied honestly. "But I thought, you and Joey, had….you know" a curved smile spread on him. "She told you?" "Sorry, if you want me to keep my mouth shut, I will. I was just expecting a smile that's all." Aden was such a great guy, she knew he wouldn't blabber. "Yeah, well there was one, and then reality came crashing down." Aden frowned a little, wondering what she meant. "Oh you know, there's always something that ruins your day." He lightened up, and smiled. "Cheer up, you have a saint of a girlfriend who loves you more then boats!" Charlie tried hard not to grin, but he had set her off. That goofy grin was there. "Look I'm off to help Roman at home, he's clearing out the house today." "He's moving?" "No, no, nothing like that, he's just determined to get rid of junk…..mad!" Aden shook his head. He kissed Charlie on the cheek and waved goodbye.

Joey scanned the beach for Charlie. Whenever either of them were fed up, upset or angry, they walked along the shore, perhaps as if the sea would give them all the answers they were looking for. She halted. Charlie was there alright, but she wasn't alone. Ruby was with her, neither of them looked happy.

"How could you not tell me Charlie? I'm your sister, I live with you!" Ruby was red in the face. They had been shouting at each other for 15 minutes after she had spotted her drifting along the side of the road. "Hugo! He's the father, right?" Charlie had tears streaming down. She focused on the sand and kept walking. "Don't walk away from me Charlie!" She demanded, as she reached for her arm and yanked her back to face her. "What do you want me to say Ruby?" she screamed. "That yes the grave mistake I made which forced Joey to leave, has returned in the form of a baby I am now carrying, which I have to live with, not knowing if she's every really going forgive me for, let alone forget!" Ruby was taken aback, she'd only ever seen her talk in that tone to criminals and outlaws, and now she was at the receiving end. She burst into tears herself. "But how could you tell Joey and sleep with her, and not tell me?" she was hurting, Charlie could see that. She walked closer and said with a softer tone "Because when you found out I had slept with Hugo, you were disgusted with me, you looked at me different and I've never forgotten it. I thought that if you found out, you'd remind me everyday that this baby was a mistake, my mistake." Ruby looked up at her. "But Charlie I'm your sister." She sobbed quietly, keeping her distance. "Are you going to keep it?" Charlie bit her lip. "Yes." "That's insane! It's Hugo's! And he's with Martha, when he finds out he's going to flip." "He's not going to find out. He doesn't need to know. What good will it do huh? Martha is a friend I couldn't do that to her!" Ruby shook her head. This was wrong. "You're kidding yourself if you think he's never going to find out! For god sake, Joey found out about your dirty little secret, and Hugo will too!" Charlie fought hard to stop tears. Why was this all coming back in her face! "Ruby I love you ok, please don't hate me for this." She looked away "I can't deal with this right now ok, I've got to go!" Charlie tried to grab her to stay but she shook her off and legged it. "Ruby….please!" she yelled, but it was no good.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Joey saw Ruby storming off, she eased her way over to Charlie. Cleary she had found out and hadn't taken it so well. She approached cautiously.

"Charlie?" She didn't face her immediately. She concentrated on kicking the sand beneath her feet as hard as she could. "Hey come here, come here." Joey persevered, until she gave in and crashed in her arms. She held her, but something got in the middle of them both. "Charlie, you're defiantly getting bigger!" "Yeah I know." She sobbed back. She moved her hand down on either side and felt Charlie's stomach. Joey's eyes almost popped straight out of her head with wonder. Charlie tried to smile. "Oh my god, it just…" Joey was ecstatic. She moved her hands down a bit further and felt and another thump from the inside of Charlie. "The baby just kicked!" She then noticed Charlie's displayed dismay. "Charlie you can enjoy this you know, you can't kick yourself over it forever!" "Joey!" she wracked her brains for words. "I……I know I have to tell Hugo, but I can't bring myself to. What about Martha, she's going to hate. Ruby already does. And…." She put her hand over her face. Joey stood back "And what?" She grew worried. "And I'm afraid that if I have this baby…….it's going to set us apart." She faced Joey. "We're finally working things out between us, and now there's a baby. Are you even ready for something like this?" Joey took a minute to respond, setting Charlie on edge. "Charlie I came back to Summer Bay not having expectations for anything. But when I came back, and I saw You, Ruby and Leah, even VJ, I realised that the reason why I was so miserable when I was away, was because I was only dreaming of being here. After the court case and we were celebrating, Leah came up and hugged me. She really…" she looked down "She REALLY hugged me!" she managed to finish. "I never had a proper family until I met you guys. I've found the strength to forgive you, because I love you Charlie. Love conquers all. If being with you, means a baby along the way, then so be it. Yeah it's going to be challenging for both of us, but look what we've been through already, and still came out of it all, together!" Charlie rested her head on Joey's shoulder. How in the world did she manage to find someone like Joey. "I can honestly say, I love you…" she paused. "Ya, even more then boats!" Charlie let out a small sigh of relief. But it didn't stop her worrying.

She had parted from Joey, who had been called by Aden, asking for a favour. She used this to mentally prepare herself, for what she knew she had to do.

[3 weeks later]

"Anyone home?" she gave a knock at the door, and found Martha walking towards her from the kitchen, smiling. "Hey Charlie! Come in, how are you?" she opened the door and welcomed her in. Charlie bit her lip hard, a little too hard. "Eh I was wondering if Hugo was in, is he here?" she crossed her arms to try and disguise the growing bump. "Oh no, you just missed him! He had a call from Alf, someone's trashed one of the boats. He's gone to inspect the damage with him. Wouldn't you have heard from work?" Charlie realised she hadn't really paid a great deal to work, not on any level. "Well no, I've had a few days off recently, every things been a blur. Watson's filling in at the moment. I know she's doing her best." She said reassuringly. Martha nodded. "Yeah we definitely haven't seen much of you, you all right?" "mmhum." "You know if something's bothering you, you can tell me Charlie. We've known each other for a good while now." Charlie looked away. Those words seemed to sting. Martha had a big grin on her face "Well there's something I want to tell you anyway. I can't keep it too myself any longer." Her grin widened. "Hugo and I………….are trying for a baby!" she opened her arms, trying to heighten the level of surprise. Charlie choked on the flem at the back of her throat. "Wwwhat?" she forced out." "Well we're talking late one night, and we agreed we didn't want to rush marriage. After Jack…." She trailed off and shook her hand "anyway we found that we both wanted children, and we realise we are getting older now, so why wait?" "But Hugo didn't want children before, what's changed his mind?" Martha stared at her, just as clueless as her. The only difference was Martha had a smile plastered on her face, and Charlie was nothing but a pillar of worries piled sky high, clearly in the clouds.

The sound of flip-flops soon reached their ears, and Xavier followed. "Hey your back, Brendan's in his room, he's not feeling well and he's been asking for you all morning." Martha had actually been hanging round the house, waiting for him to come home so she could go see Alf as well. Xavier stopped just behind the sofa where they were sitting, before going to check Brendan. "So does this mean I'm going to have a niece or nephew twice over hey?" Charlie stared up at him. She was gutted, Ruby had told him. Martha gave a quizzical look at the pair of them, with that, dropping the bomb on Xavier that Charlie hadn't told her. "Sorry am I missing something here?" she looked over at Charlie, who avoided eye contact and stared at the miniature wooden boat. She called upon all the strength she had when she was with Joey and spat the words out. "Martha, I've been a coward. I've held this off for too long, because I knew how happy you and Hugo were, and I didn't want to lose our friendship." Martha's face sunk. She couldn't have been more honestly if she tried. The grin had disappeared, into a gutted look. Xavier backed off quietly, feeling terribly guilty. Charlie rubbed her eyes. "This is why you've been off work I take it?" She nodded. Martha turned away. "I spent a long time not wanting to deal with it, because it hurt too much. Joey was back and I knew it would blow everything up. Ruby worked it out from a comment VJ made a few weeks ago, and clearly told Xavier. Ruby still hasn't talked to me properly yet, she's avoiding it completely. I don't want to lose you as a friend." She reached for her arm, to show more feeling. Martha faced her, her eyes welling up. "You're not going to lose me!" she declared. She backed up "Hang on this was months ago!" Charlie nodded. "Yeah." "So you should be huge!" Charlie dropped her arms and revealed the bump. Martha gave a fascinated stare. She reached for her hand, and expressed an accepting smile, even if it did hurt that she had been blessed with a child she didn't want. "What about Hugo?" She suggested after a bit. "I don't know. I never wanted to tell him, but our friendship means too much to me." "Either way, I'll support your decision Charlie, ok? Perhaps keeping it from him would be easier on everyone though" she thought. "I'm not trying to be selfish I…" "I know you're not Martha! You never are." She smiled. For now they'd keep it to themselves. "Would go tell Xavier not to blurt it out to Hugo, I've had enough stress for one day." "Of course." Xavier poked his head round the doorway "My lips are sealed!" They managed a smile between them.

She arrived home for lunch, Joey was at the fridge. "If in doubt, open the fridge hey?" she came up behind her and kissed her on her neck. "I'm debating about what to have for lunch I didn't know you were going to be back so soon, I would have cooked." Charlie's tummy rumbled. Joey let out a little laugh, and put her hands under Charlie's tanktop. "God your hands are cold!" she yelped. "Duh! Fridge." She indicated. "Your in a pleasant mood, must have gone alright then." "Oh thanks!" Charlie pouted. "we'll talk about that later right now, you need to fill my appetite!"

She pulled Joey closer, who had a raised eye brow in place.


	5. Chapter 5

Charlie had been pacing back and forth across the living room, waiting for Ruby to come from school. After Martha's reaction to the news, she forced herself to get Ruby to talk to her. The door received a brutal slam, as herself came storming through. "Men, boys, their all the same!" she halted, almost walking into Charlie. She dropped her school bag with a thud and continued "Maybe I should go gay, that'll give Xavier the shock of his life. It may even get his attention!" She returned the stare Charlie was giving, not understanding a word she was saying. She dismissed what she had said, by shaking her head, fed up. "I'm sure you guys will work it, what ever it was. You always do." Charlie tried to lighten the mood. Ruby sat on the sofa in a heap, and she sat beside her. Ruby eyed her stomach. "Yes! I know…..I'm fat!" Charlie said with a bored tone. She felt Ruby shaking, her entire body. When she turned to face her, she realised she wasn't crying at all, she was in fact laughing.

Joey heard muttering as she dragged herself in, exhausted from shopping. A rustling of bags sparked attention from Ruby and Charlie in the living room. Joey poked her head in. "Hey, am I interrupting?" She wasn't sure whether to walk in or not. They weren't shouting or arguing, so she took this as a good sign. "No not at all." Charlie gained control of her growing smile. "Look what I got!" Joey walked out and returned with the tiniest pink all-in-one, with matching socks. "You're having a girl?" Ruby turned to Charlie, with look of admiration, and genuine interest. "Yeah I am" she look over to Joey was walking towards them "We are Rubes." Joey sat on the arm of the sofa near Charlie and beamed with delight. Ruby took a minute, this was real. "Does Hugo…" "No. I told Martha and she's accepted it, but we agreed together that telling him would make a mess of things, as they are actually trying for a baby." Charlie cut her off. "Huh" was all that Ruby could say as she further thought. Charlie looked at Joey, and then looked at her again. "Have you guys thought of any names yet?" Charlie pounced on her, squeezing her till she went red. "Cha….Charlieeeeee, I can't breeeeeeath!" Joey giggled watching the sisters pull apart rather flushed. "I'm sorry, I really am." "Me too!" Charlie grinned. "So what exactly are you going to tell people, they are going to ask." That was a very good point. Neither of them had thought of that. "Leave it to me, I'll conjure something. I'm fantastic at bullshiting at school." Ruby insisted. Joey kissed her on her forehead "Mwah!"

Leah walked in with VJ covered in sand. "Good afternoon guys!" she stopped, turned, and viewed three adorable smiles. "You're all, talking again?" she pointed rather relieved. "For now." Ruby stated with a cheeky grin. Charlie eyed her, but relieved too. "I don't suppose any of you have heard about this new girl around town? She's caused quite a stir. Alf seems to think she was the one that wrecked one of the boats or something, I, I didn't get much of the story, I was picking up VJ." "What's her name?" Rubs turned to Leah, intrigued to think that Nicole had been knocked off her perch. She ordered VJ to jump in the shower and then replied "Reily, I think. Anyway there's a fair amount of damage done, whether it was her or not." Leah felt sorry for Alf, he hadn't been feeling great recently either. On top of all that business had been slower then usual. "Reily" Ruby sat back. "I've got to meet this Reily!" she thought out loud.

"Hi, just a ham and cheese sandwich to go thanks." Fuck sake she thought. She'd only been here 3 days and already she'd managed to get robbed of her phone, accused of vandalism and Graffiti, hated my the neighbourhood, placed as the "Idiot" for asking where the diner was, which had been right in front of her, the list was endless. She sat at one of the single tables while she waited for her order and buried her head in her hands. Colleen was trying ever so hard to concentrate on the sandwich she was suppose to be making but naturally she wanted to know who this girl was, as did everybody else. She kept peering round while Irene wasn't looking to see if she could make out why she was here. "Colleen! Would ya leave the poor girl alone, for goodness sake she's a customer!" After she had returned to the sandwich, Irene snuck a peek too.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Hugo walked in and advanced straight over to her. "I thought I told you I didn't want to see you again! Do you have any idea of the damaged and problems you caused?" She sprung up, feeling the need to defend her. "I told you I didn't go any where near the boat. I'm not here to cause problems, I just want a sandwich!" she stampered. "Well get it somewhere else then, you're lying through your teath!" Nicole somehow included herself in the dispute. "Do you have any proof that she destroyed Alf's boat?" Hugo released the forced frown from his face. "No, but I will soon." "Well until then, back off and leave her alone! The girl just wants to eat." Hugo gave an annoyed glare. "You heard her, move it!" Irene demanded behind him.

"Sorry manners are hard to find among some of the people round here." Nicole forwardly stated. "I'm Nicole." She offered her hand. "I'm Reily" She took her hand, grateful that she didn't show the same grudge and judgment as everybody else. "Are you staying round here, or seeing friends?" Nicole quizzically asked. "Well I'm staying in the Caravan Park at the moment, just looking for work really right now." Why was she being nice to her? Surely she wanted something. Aden strolled over with Belle "Hey!" Reily suddenly felt out of place, crowded. "I'm Aden, this is Belle." "Hi, I'm Reily." Aden took a second look "Aren't you the one that…." Nicole eyed him. After living with her for so long, he learnt when to shut his mouth. "I've got to get going, but I'll see you around. It was nice meeting you." Nicole gave one of her rare genuine smiles and headed out. "Ya we're gonna go over and order." Aden pointed. "Here's your sandwich love." She thanked the woman, and smiled back.

Charlie and Joey were strolling, hand in hand. A weight hand indeed been lifted. "So, have you thought of names then?" Joey wondered. "No, I suppose we should start thinking. It's not long now!" "How about Grace?" Joey thought. Charlie stared at her. "What? I like that name!" She leant over and kissed her cheek. "I like it too." "Or Chloe" Charlie scrunched up her nose, causing Joey to giggle. Charlie scanned ahead. Her eyes meeting the figure of a girl heading towards them, Joey wondered who she was staring at. As they walked towards her, they captured the image of a young girl with shoulder length golden brown hair, with blue eyes making her way towards them. As she passed Charlie couldn't help but turn to get another look. "What?" Joey asked. Charlie faced her "Nothing, she just looks familiar."


	6. Chapter 6

Watson was faced with a stack of files, and enquiries. She'd taken a confident stride to fill in while Charlie was off, but some days it got a little too much. She was well capable in theory. She had the needed years of experience, so she went for it.

"Hey anyone in?" Charlie walked in not knowing who to find. "Charlie!" Watson let out cough "I mean Senior Constable." She nodded. Charlie just laughed, she had secretly missed her too. "What brings you here?" Watson wondered. "Em I was asked to come in and sign off for my official maternity leave." She smiled. "But we can expect you back afterwards?" "Hopefully, if I'm still wanted." Watson rolled her eyes, and smiled. "You look busy." Charlie made a quick observation of files still out, scattered across the desk. "Um yeah, we've been question those that might have been witnesses of the damage done to Alf's boat, it's definatly been slow." "Who've you pulled in?" "Oh a few…" Watson was interrupted with the sound of the door opening opposite them. An officer led the girl out of the interview room. "We'll contact you, if we need to talk to you again. I don't see a reason why we would" he reached for a folder on top of the bulging stack. "We received the results of a DNA test, from a tiny sample of blood that was found on the boat. The person who had done that damage had probably been rather drunk, as much of it was sloppy, they'd perhaps cut themselves when one of the windows was smashed. So I guess your all clear." "I'm so glad, I won't get harassed now." "Who's been harassing you?" Charlie stepped in. Both Reily and the officer looked at her. "Um Hugo." She looked down. "He's been walking up to me and having a go at me when ever he can. I'm sure he's just upset." She said not wanting anything to be done. Charlie frowned. Why had he made it his business?

A distraction at the door left Charlie and Reily alone. Charlie wasn't entirely sure what to say. She wasn't on duty, therefore had no reason to start a conversation. They were left with a moment of silence between them, both looking either direction.

They heard a commotion outside, before they could register what was being said, it had escalated in front of them. Charlie panicked. She wasn't sure how to defend herself. She couldn't make any quick manoeuvres being this pregnant. "You bitch! What did you say to them, why are they on top of me?" an over-weight, middle aged man yelled at Reily. Watson attempted to restrain him, from moving towards them. He flung his weight on her, and gave a shove that sent her flying into the desk beside and hitting her head. "I said, what did you say to them?" he demanded. Charlie searched for the gun she knew Watson kept in the second draw, from the desk nearest to where she was. "I didn't tell them anything!" Reily screamed, tears were running down her cheeks. "Brian don't do this, please!" Charlie found the gun and pointed it at him. "You know this man?" she gasped at Reily. Brian walked forward. "I will shoot, if you move any closer!" Charlie shouted. "Back off, and we can talk." He simply laughed, and pulled out a gun. Now they were both staring point blank at a mess that seemed impossible to resolve. The officers behind had back off and called for back up. Watson was still on the floor, but awake. "Charlie?" she called in pain. "Yeah I'm here, don't worry they've called for help." Reily shot a darkened stare at her. "You're Charlie?" "Yes I am." She didn't take her eyes off Brian. All of them had sweat dripping down, it was like a staring contest, the first to blink and it would all be over. "Come on Reily, what do you honestly hope to achieve with this? She" he pointed at Charlie "doesn't care!" "What's he talking about?" She asked Reily. She could only shake her head, and with a gutless reply answered "I don't know." "Rilz I even trashed a fucking boat and pinned it on you, hoping you'd leave here and come back home!" "That was you?" Reily said bitterly. Her tears of fear, had turn into tears of anger. With yet another step forward from Brian, they both got a whiff of alcohol from him. "I'll tell you one more time, come home!" She looked at Charlie who was almost out of it. She couldn't keep her arms up anymore. "No!" Reily demanded. "Wrong answer!" Brian laughed and pointed the gun at Charlie, still staring at her.

Someone knocked on the door, causing Brian to turn around. Back up had come, he was screwed. As soon as he saw Reily move from the corner of his eye, he swung his head round and fired the gun. He let out a raging cry, as officers stormed in and pinned him down. Watson managed to get up, despite the fact that she had a large gash on her forehead. Her vision had gone blurry with the sudden rush of blood to her head, she regained focus and couldn't believe what she saw. Charlie was sitting on the floor, supported by the desk, holding on to Reily who had crumbled in her arms. Charlie was in state of shock. She could have sworn she heard a gun fire.

Brian was being dragged into one of the empty cells screaming "Reily!" Watson eased her way out to call for a med, to check out Charlie and Reily, never mind herself. "Reily, Reily?" She shook her a little harder then she should have done. Her breathing was quickening. Charlie lifted her head to face her. "I'm sor, sorry." She forced out, as blood was running from her nose. "How do you know Brian? Why did he come here?" Charlie wiped her nose, not noticing she was bleeding somewhere else. "He's my brother. He's angry……. I came looking for you." She whipered. Charlie stared deep in her eyes, still holding her head. And then all sounds that passed her lips disappeared. "Reily? Hey, wake up!" She removed her hand from her head and found her own covered in the result of Brian's anger. She began shaking uncontrollably.

-

Watson had come back in, after a short moment and found Charlie in pieces. Reily was clinically dead, in her arms. They had rushed them both to Hospital, where they met Rachel.

-

Joey, Ruby, Leah and Roman can catapulting from the doors, to the desk. "Where is she, how is she, can we see her?" Rachel's head buzzed with these words from all four of them, all in different orders. "Back up guys, I can't let you in yet!" She tried to calm them down. "Tell us she's ok." Joey burst into tears for the 3rd time, after finding out. "Charlie is fine. She's been rather dehydrated so we are currently giving her fluids. She's still in shock." "And the baby?" Joey blurted. "Also fine!" Joey reached for Ruby, relieved. Ruby latched on to her.

Watson walked out of another room, with stitches on her forehead. Ruby scrunched her face. "Ow!" She managed a smile "All part of the job!" "How's Reily?" she asked Rachel. Rachel turned to her with a regretful look. "It's hard to say, she received a gun shot wound to the back of the head, she still in surgery." "Hang on, this new girl?" Ruby butted in. "You know her?" Rachel asked, as she turned to her. "No, but everyone's talking about her. Who shot her?" "Her brother, Brian." Watson replied. "If it wasn't for her, Charlie would be dead." "What?" All of them gasped. Joey eyed her for more words. "He had the gun pointed at Charlie, and Reily ran out in front." But why would she do that?" Ruby couldn't believe her ears. "I keep asking myself the same thing." Watson shook her head in disbelief.


End file.
